The Monday Poll - Possessions*

[pjthompson]

[Poll #1247978]

*Thanks to Eric Hoffer, Elizabeth I, Anna C. Brackett, George H. W. Bush, Ben Elton, and Epictetus.

Comments

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

I love my books and I can't collect enough of them; there's never enough shelf space.

I have lots of other stuff, too. Some of it acts as a memory bank (remember how cute my baby was when he was putting the toothmarks on this little board book?), others hold beauty or magic. I love seeing quiet serene homes with only a few possessions carefully placed and cared for, but am constitutionally incapable of living my own life that way; like a magpie, I must pick up the shiny and take it home.

(Which is not to say that I buy things I can't afford. I avoid malls like the plague. But, I do have a weakness for yard sales.)

[pjthompson]

Oh, I don't think books count as possessions. Those are necessities. ;-)

And yes, I suffer from magpie syndrome, too. I will never live in a clean, spartan beauty, either.

[hkneale.livejournal.com]

I am trying hard to not want things.

Sometimes I want things to interact with, but when I'm done interacting with them, it's sometimes hard to "un-possess" them (ie, give them away, sell them, throw them away, etc.)

I am getting better, but sometimes I just wanna possess something.

This is why I love libraries and video rental places. I can have something for a little while, then give it back, knowing that if I want it again, it's there.

[pjthompson]

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with possessions. It's just that sometimes they can swamp your life. Everybody has to decide the balance for themselves, I think.